Li Keqiang was endorsed as Chinese premier Sunday at the ongoing first session of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC), the country's national legislature, as a number of other top leaders were elected.

China launched a land exploration satellite into a preset orbit from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi desert in the country's northwest at 3:10 pm Saturday, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

China is building a world-leading hypersonic wind tunnel to test hypersonic aircraft that can travel at speeds of Mach 25 (30,627kph), media reported, saying it will aid the development of future spacecraft that can transport people or payloads into space at far less cost.

China will and should take timely countermeasures against the US and all "Taiwan independence" secessionist forces through diplomatic and military means if US legislation that encourages high-level contact between the US and the island of Taiwan is implemented, Chinese observers said on Sunday.